Jesse Magenheimer
Vice President & CISO
State Farm
Jesse Magenheimer is a risk professional with a love of technology who focuses on cybersecurity. He is an introvert by nature, but he gets a lot of energy spending time with people—probably why his friends in college always found it peculiar that he was as excited about the sciences as he was in studying the humanities. Jesse believes that talented, caring teams can do endless good together, and says that it’s an honor to work with colleagues who are as passionate about the noble work they do in cybersecurity as he is.
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Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
If you’d asked me fresh out of college where I’d be in 20 years, having the privilege of serving as a Chief Information Security Officer had never crossed my mind. I’m fortunate to work for an incredible company and with wonderful colleagues who have supported and invested in me across my professional pursuits.
You can see the value that State Farm places in developing people, as I’ve had the chance to work in many of our internal cybersecurity disciplines, as well as spending time in human resources, internal audit, and with our agency/marketing and financial services teams.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Strive to be better each day and help others do the same.
What is the greatest challenge your particular C-level role is facing today, and how are you addressing it?
Making sure that we have strong cybersecurity talent in the workforce for both today and in the future. This is one of the most rapidly changing fields and, as CISOs, we must ensure our current workforce continues to evolve and that we’ve positioned the next generation of practitioners to be successful.
Affording learning opportunities for existing professionals as well as spending time in the community inspiring others to pursue cybersecurity are just a few of the steps we continue to take to help ensure talent is well-positioned for success.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CISO?
Build relationships both inside and outside of your organization. It’s not a cliché to say that we’re all in this together.
How do you measure success as a leader?
There’s a lot we measure, but one important aspect is upholding our company’s mission to help people manage the risk of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. If our teams enable that to happen securely, then that’s a success.
What is the value of being a member of Gartner C-level Communities?
Having a community of practitioners all working toward the same goal of doing good through our cybersecurity efforts is rewarding. I learn from professional communities like this one and grow as a leader.
Gartner C-level Communities Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
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